Clooney tests the 'Air' up there

Empty

As if his status weren't elevated enough, George Clooney may now be taking flight for DreamWorks.

Clooney is in talks to star in "Up in the Air," an adaptation of the 2001 Walter Kirn novel, with Oscar-nominated "Juno" director Jason Reitman behind the camera.

The Oscar-winning actor will inhabit an unapologetic corporate downsizer whose untethered life is consumed by collecting air miles.

Montecito's Ivan Reitman, Joe Medjuck, Tom Pollock and Jeff Clifford will act in a producer capacity along with Jason Reitman and his Hard C producing partner Dan Dubiecki. Ted Griffin also will serve in a producer capacity.

The project has a long history, with Jay Roach first setting it up at Fox 2000. It eventually made its way to Montecito, with a draft written by Sheldon Turner and Griffin producing.

Reitman picked up the tome when he was cobbling together financing for his feature debut "Thank You for Smoking" and wrote 30 pages of a draft. He's been writing his adaptation in the background for the past five years as he directed "Smoking" and "Juno."

Clooney, repped by CAA, is in the throes of promoting his latest film, the Coen brothers' farce "Burn After Reading." (partialdiff)